This invention relates to fastening devices used to attach wire lath to a wall surface and maintain the wire lath a desired distance therefrom and, more particularly, fastening devices designed to attach welded wire and woven wire lath to residential and commercial wall surfaces and framing.
In the construction of residential homes and commercial buildings, the wall surfaces are formed from suitable framing, e.g., wood or steel depending on the particular application. A welded wire or woven wire lath or grid is placed over the framing in preparation for subsequent application of plaster or stucco. In order to provide a suitable surface for applying and retaining the plaster or stucco, it is important that the wire lath be maintained a desired distance away from the framing surface. The void space formed between the wire lath and the framing is necessary for retaining the applied plaster or stucco to the vertical wall surface. Without the use of such wire lath and void space, any plaster or stucco applied to the otherwise bare frame surface would slump and/or run downwardly due to gravity.
Past methods of applying wire laths to framing have included the use of an attachment device in the form of a nail and deformable element disposed around the nail. U.S. Pat. No. 1,517,035 is the subject of such a furring nail, wherein the deformable element is a spacer in the form of a sheet of metal. The spacer is disposed concentrically around the nail and includes a deformable wing that is designed to be bent around an adjacent wire of the lath, after the nail has been driven into place within the wood under structure, to both retain the lath against the nail and maintain the lath at a spaced apart distance from the underlying structure. The use of such furring nail, however, is both labor intensive and time consuming because it requires at least three application steps. A first step to combine the nail with the spacer element. A second step to attach the nail to the underlying structure. And a third step to deform the spacer element to provide attachment with the wire lath.
Past methods of applying wire laths to framing have also included the use of an attachment device in the form of a screw with a spacer element disposed therearound. U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,597 is the subject of such a fastening device comprising a dowel, that can be attached to an underlying surface by screw, having a wire lath holding device at one dowel end. More specifically, the dowel is attached to an underlying structure by cam action by use of a screw within the dowel. The dowel includes a single channel at an end opposite the underlying structure positioned perpendicular to the dowel to accommodate placement of a single wire lath strand therein. A web extends away from the dowel end towards the dowel end attached within the underlying structure to provide a desired spacing between the underlying structure and the attached wire lath.
The use of such fastening device, however, requires at least four application steps that are both labor intensive and time consuming. A first step involves drilling or boring a pilot hole into the underlying structure for placement of the dowel therein. A second step involves placing the screw within the dowel, and inserting the screw/dowel assembly into the pilot hole. A third step involves screwing the screw into the dowel to form an attachment between the underlying structure and the dowel by cam action. And a forth step involves rotating the dowel 90 degrees so that the channel of the grid holding device engages a wire from the lath for retaining the wire therein.
It is, therefore, desirable that a fastening device be constructed that can be easily used to attach a wire lath to an underlying structure in a manner that: (1) is neither labor nor time intensive to use; (2) provides complete and reliable wire entrapment; and (3) provides consistent wire lath distance from the underlying wall structure. It is further desired that the fastening device be adapted for use with different types of underlying surface materials without the need for special tools or installation procedures.
Fastening devices, constructed according to principles of this invention, comprise a mounting means, e.g., a nail, screw, or the like, and a spacer element. The spacer element can be cylindrical in shape and includes a central opening extending between opposite axial surfaces. One or more grooves are disposed within and extend diametrically along at least one axial spacer surface. The groove is adapted to accommodate a wire section of a wire lath. The mounting means includes a head at one axial end positioned adjacent the spacer groove, and a tip at an opposite axial end for penetrating and engaging a surface of an adjacent structure, e.g., a wall or frame structure. The head includes an enlarged diameter section that extends radially outwardly therefrom a sufficient distance to cover at least a portion of the groove when the mounting means is disposed within the central opening.
The fastening device is used to attach a wire lath to another surface by placing a wire section of the wire lath within the spacer groove and driving the mounting means into the other surface. During the driving step, the spacer element is interposed between the other surface and the mounting means enlarged diameter section, and the wire section is secured between the groove and the enlarged diameter section to attach the wire lath to the other surface.
Configured in this manner, the fastening device reduces the amount of steps required in the field to install a wire lath, thereby reducing time and labor. Additionally, the fastening device of this invention provides consistent full wire embedments that are completely furred, thereby providing improved attachment reliability.